Collar-fastener.



No. 66 9,93I. Patented Mar. l2, I901.

H. c. LOUDERMILCH. coLLAn FASTENEB.

(Application fixed Nov. 13, I897.)

(I10 Modal.)

wuuufo'c H6727 Cliqaiazwgzick.

ATEN Fries.

COLLAR-FASTEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 669,931, dated March12, 1901.

Application filed November 13, 1897- Serial No. 658,452 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY C. LOUDER- MILCH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Fisherville, in the county of Dauphin and State ofPennsylvania, and whose postoffice address is Enders, Dauphin county,Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement inHorse-Collars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to horse-collars, and has for its object togenerally improve their construction and operation and to furnish ahorse-collar with improved means for opening, closing, and securing itat the bottom.

With this object in view my invention consists in the improvedconstruction, arrange ment, and combination of parts hereinafter fullydescribed and afterward specifically pointed out in the appended claim.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention mostnearly appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed todescribe its construction and operation, reference being had tothe'accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 is a view in front elevation, partly in section, illustrating ahorse-collar equipped with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a detail sectionalview of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective viewof the spring-plates and their opening mechanism detached from thecollar. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the arrow-head catch-bardetached. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail view, in front elevation, ofthe lower part of the collar with the joint closed and covered by themetallic sleeve.

Like letters of reference mark the same parts wherever they occur in thevarious figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings by letters, A is an ordinary stuffed collarclosed and padded at the top, as at B, and open at its lower end, as atO, the meeting ends of the collar being marked E. Secured to the end Dis a metallic sleeve F, outwardly shaped to correspond with the shape ofthe collar, and within-this sleeve are secured, by means of rivets G,two spring-plates H, each of which is provided at its outer end with alatch-hook I, projecting inwardly and beveled on its outer end, as at I.TherivetsG pass through openings in the rear ends of the plates andthrough a scparatingblock J, by which means the plates andseparating-block are rigidly secured in the joint-covering sleeve F. Theends of plates are substantially straight and parallel, while theintermediate portion of each of them is bent or curved inward, whichpermits of the rear ends fitting between theends of the block J and thesides of the sleeve F, thereby holding them rigidly in position withoutadditional fastening means and firmly securing them against longitudinalor forward movement. The block and rivets are located at such a distancefrom the rear end of the sleeve F as to leave room for the insertion ofthe end D of the collar, where it is secu red by suitable rivets orfasteners. The opposite end E of the collar is provided with a metalliccap K, of the proper shape to slip into the open end of the sleeve F,and an arrow-head catch bar L projects beyond the end E a sufficientdistance to pass in between the latch heads or hooks of thespring-plates H when the ends are brought together. This arrow-headcatch-bar L is secured to the end E of the collar by long rivets M,which pass through the metallic cap K and the bar and hold it rigidly inproper position to engage the latch-hooks I when the two ends arebrought together.

A shaft or stem N is swiveled in the sleeve F and carries anelliptic-shaped head 0 between the two spring-plates H, a handle P beingprovided on the outer end of the shaft N outside of the sleeve F,whereby the shaft and its head may be easily turned.

The operation of my invention may be described as follows: Supposing theends D and E of the collar to be separated and the handle being turnedto bring the longest diameter of the elliptical head 0 in line with thespring-plates H and as a consequence these plates being in their normalclosed position, the collar may be closed and fastened by simplypressing the two ends together,causing the arrow-head L of the catch-barL to pass be-' tween the latch-hooks I of the spring-plates H, whichwill close upon the arrowhead as soon as it has passed in beyond theinneredge of the hook, thus securely holding the two ends of the collartogether. To open the collar,it is only necessary to turn the handle Pat right angles to the position just described, which will bring thelongest diameter of the elliptic head at right angles to the length ofthe spring-plates H and separate those plates, the head 0 acting as acam for this purpose and the latch hooks 01' heads I of the plates beingpressed far enough apart by this operation to permit of the withdrawalof the arrowhead L of the catch-bar L. By turning the handle P to bringthe elliptical head 0 to its original position, with its longestdiameter in line with the length of the plates H, the collar will beleft ready to be snapped together, when desired.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that I have provided simple andreliable means for 'short man or boy attempts to harness a horse,

especially a restive or spirited one.

While I have illustrated and described what I consider to be efficientmeans for carrying out my invention, I do not Wish to be understood aslimiting myself to the exact details of construction and arrangementshown and described, but hold that any slight changes or variations,such as might suggest themselves to the ordinary mechanic, wouldproperly fall Within the limit and scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

In combination with a horse-collar, open at the bottom, of a sleeve oneach end, one of which is closed and smaller than and adapted to betelescoped into the other one, a perforated block in the larger oneadjacent to the end of the collar, two springs, the ends of which aresubstantially parallel with each other and the intermediate portion iscurved inwardly, the forward ends of the springs being each providedwith an inwardly-projecting inclined latch-head, and the rear ends beingperforated and fitting between the ends of the block and the sleeve,rivets through the sleeve, the plates and the block, an arrow-head catchprojecting beyond the closed end of the smaller sleeve in position toengage with the spring-latch heads, and a shaft journaled in the largersleeve, the inner end of which is provided with an elliptical headbetween the forward ends of the springs and the outer end is providedwith a handle for rotating it, substantially as described.

HENRY C. LOUDERMILOH.

Witnesses:

F. LOUDERMILOH, H. W. KILLINGER.

